Rotating squares auxetic metamaterials with improved strain tolerance

Rotating squares auxetic metamaterials have the peculiar feature of a negative Poisson’s ratio. This work proposes and examines how an innovative variable arcs fillet solution, at the interconnection regions between the rotating units, improves the structural response of a titanium alloy-based rotating squares metamaterial. Through a 2D finite element (FE) model of the auxetic structure, we investigated and optimized two fillet configurations: first, a double circular arcs profile; second, a combined elliptical and circular arc fillet. According to the FE results, the optimal configuration of the combined elliptical and circular arc fillet allows an overall 3% elastic strain of the metamaterial, with a Poisson’s ratio (PR) equal to ca. −1. In order to assess the deformation behavior of the proposed metamaterial, we performed a tensile test on a prototype of the optimal solution, 3D printed in Onyx material. The experimental displacement field of the specimen, measured through digital image correlation, exhibited excellent agreement with the FE predictions, with a PR equal to ca. −1 up to a 3% overall strain.